Knitting machine and needle therefor



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Jan. 9, 1923.

P P. LAMONTAGNE. KN! TT 1 NG MACHINE AND NEEDLE THEREFOR.

' ORIGINAL FILED Aus. 28, 1918.

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PATRICK 1 LA MONTAGNE, or 'BooRBonNius, ILLinors, Ass ie1\Ton,:1sY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 POPE MACHINE COMPANY, OF KANKAKEE; rumors, a we;

PORA'IION or ILLINOIS.

KNITTING MACHI E ANQNEEDLE THEREFOR.

Application filed August eamn'z, Serial no. 251,806. nenewed'necemb r-s, 15212..

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, PATRICK P. LA Mo 'IAGNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bourbonnais, county of Kankakee, State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Knitting Machines and Needles Therefor, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification,- like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This .inventionrelates to a separate latch knitting machine.need]e, that is, a needle of the type in which the liookmember and latch member are separate members physically independent but-co-operating to perform the required knitting functions.

It is the object of the-inventionto' pro-, 1 I

the left of'the-needle shown in F 3, with a as is frequently employed in connection with this type of .needle, it only being necessary.

to provide in the preferred form of the needle illustrated a small clearance slot or re cessfor a portion of the latch at the outer end of the needle bed. This feature of the invention enables the separate latch type .of

needle. readily 't'o be employed in existing knitting machine's without rendering any substantial reconstruction thereof necessary.

It is the further object of the invention .to provide a separate latch needle 50 constructed that the co-operating movements of the members may be 'effected with out placing any undue strain upon the work and consequently without unnecessarily expanding the stitches during the retracting movement.

It is the further object of the invention to provide a separate latch knitting machine -needle whichmayjbe adapted for use invarious types of -knitting machines and which may readily be substituted for any form of knitting machine needle wherever .the same isused. I

These and other objects andfeatures-of the invention will appear more full'y'from the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims. p

In the drawings, whichshow a well known and ordinary type of circular knitting mating machine chine with a preferred embodimentaof the present-invention, 2' T 'F1gure 1 isa view chiefly in central vertical cross-section of a portionof the knit- Fig. 2'is a detail in transverse ,cross section showing the connection: between the, needle projecting cam 4 tracting cam ring;

ring and the needle re- Fig. 3 is a side elevation partially inver tical'cross section of a portion of the cy1inder of the machine and a needle embodying the preferred form of the invention, the me dle being shown in projected position; of the needle shown in retracted position;

Fig. 4 is a similar View F ig; 5'is'a View in elevation looking toward portion of tlfe hook member brokenawa-y to' a slightly. difierent construction-ofthe late T Inemb'er;'

Fig. 8 is a development of formJoflatchmember; i

Fig. 9 is a side elevation'of the jack;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation looking toward the left of Fig. 9 of the jack; F1g.= l1 is a transverse crosssection enlai-ged. of the jack taken on the line l1-11 of Fig. 9'.

the preferred The inventiongis adapted for use as has already been pointed out in any ordinary.

typeofknitting machine and with the usualmodification for use in any position in the invention the needle is herein disclosed as a:

type adapted for. use as a cylinder needle in the cylinder of a circular knitting machine. For convemence m disclosingthe inventron-the movement'o'f the needle to yarn receiving position willbe referred to as the" fproyeating" moyement or; .movement to.

rogectedposition; movement of the me I d e in the opposite'direction will'be referred to as the retracting-movement or the movep 9U machine. For thepurposeof illustratin'gthe of" the time member "as arm-vary" andfthe opposite direction. rearward; direction will be referred'lto as longitiidina'Wi direc tion through the' members from face; to face] as. lateral and direction -in or"paral1el.

"with the general-plane of the members as -transverse; but it will be understood that .these and similar terms are. relative "only taken as otherwise limiting I f {The .knitt'ng machine needle comp-risesthe twoseparate and independent members;

- the hook member'12andithe latchmember 13.- In this general typeof needle one .of

- the invention;

and are not to the. members" is actuated from the other which in turn is actuated-by cams of the -f.knitting.n'1achine, and, in the preferred form shown, the, latch member receives its actuation from the hook member. The hook mem- 'ber in the form illustrated is provided with I a v shoulderlt to cooperate-with the pro ated by. t

. wardend of the'shank the hook member isv j ecting cam of -the 'machine while the shank 15 offthe .hook member-is provided witha vj thus formed is bent sons to presenta yield- ,ing: or. resilient cross section somewhat shoulder 16 which in this case .c'o-operates -With a separate jack which in turndsactue retracting ,camof the machine and the operation of which will beset forth later. i 1. k x

Forward of the shank 15--'or at the 'f0r enlarged transversely to form the body por 1 tion 17 and this body portion is provided with an opening 18 extending laterally there through. Theyendiwalls 19and 20fpresent or constitute shoulders which contacting with the latch membe'r insureithe proper relative movement oftlie needlemembers.

The hookmember'is slotted longitudinally;

and -tran'sx'nersely at its forward end at 21- to.22 This slot opens into the lateralopen ing 18fa1id at itsforward portion 21 extends entirely through the hook; member trans- This "slot is' preferably figuration of theneedlev is so arranged as to enable the ordinary typeqsof circular saw to be employed; for, examplefthe" body-p tion is cut away so-as to enable anordinarysize saw 23 indicatedin-three'different p0? sitions on. the inner edge. ofthe'hook meniber to cut this 'slot. A recess 24 isprovided" j on the outer'face. of the" liookm'ember conmetal and of'such thickness that it may read-. v ily move in the slot 21 22.' At its forward necting with the slot 2i and this recess may be -formed by the saw '23 operating on'the outer face,: while the gniding" shoulder 25 connecting the recess and slot inay be formed by a smaller saw 26 moving along the line 27. A small-notch' or recess 28 is formed-on the outer face 'of the tip of the hook to receive the latch point. The latch membe'r 13 is made of thin sheet end it presents the'hea'd'QSl having the out.-

30.- lengthwise ofthehookand-latcltmembersY p .which thestitch tofbe' cast ofi may rest du 1- .main body of the shank. I In the completed latch this portion is bent back upon itselffe ga the side Wallso f-the needle slot and" i "sure's all the membjer's of a givensizfbeing ardly and inclined latchpoint 4 outer fac'e'the point meets the head in asmooth curve 31 forming a seat'in ing. the retractingmovementof the needle; '70 Therearward end'of the shankof the latch. member. hasa portion '32 shown -,developed in Fig. 8 extending transversely from the.

to'bring the edge 33 inline'w'ith the edge'34 and-then a sharpbendlor crease is ,formedin one or both of the sides so as'togive the shape shown in cross section in Figs. 6 on? 'respectively' When but one side of the butt] of the "latch thus formed is bent or creased. as on the line'35 the shape is asshownl'in- Fig. .6; ,When both sides are bent as on: the

.lines 36 the shape is .as shown in' hig. 7'. In

either case the side walls of this butt sec- 8 5" tion of the latch yield with respect-to ,ehch' other without danger of cracking or splitting; the metal of which the-latch member iS formed. The b-u'tt section of; the latch greater than the thicknessof the hook mem ber -and of 'sluflicie'nt'thickness frictionally to I effect the required"retardingaction -with re-. 5 spect to the movement of the hook member.

(The shank of the latch member-1 forwardly of-the' butt isjbent laterally. at; so as to, bring it into the medial planeof 'th'e hookmember. "i;

The butt portion 'Of the latch presents at its rearward andfiforward ends suitable shoulders 38 M8139 for cooperating respectively With the shoulders 19 and-2001 the hook member. {The-contracting areas of these 'pairs of, shoulders is made relatively- I small to prevent any accumulation of dirt between the shoul ders.vvhich would vary the accuracy of operationof the needle menibers.i Thisfresult i'sfsecured in thecase. of

' the Contactingshouldersi 38 by" cilting away the' latchl .-buttfat=4O and n the .case ofthe contactin by. makingthe should er fldbf fire 1 Both the hook member and" latch member are formed of. sheet] netal'.df-th'e-required' thickness preferably by'stainpi-ng. or cutting operations. This enables.both'fmembers"to I be :formed with-extreme accuracy andain;

I20 exactly alike which is highly important both to. accuracy of operation in the completed needle and to low cost of manufacture? By thus stamping or (hitting ont these'members" the (to-operating. shoulders by hich-the membersare operated are accurately-positioned with respect to-theefi'ective or operat 'ing'po-rtionsf'; I

The needle is assembled byginserting'the point ofjthe latch member into 'the opening shoulders 20. and, 391 p i v 18 and through the slot 22-21 until'the' extreme point rests against the shoulder 25.

and projects into the recess 24}. Then the latch-butt will snap into place in the opening. '18.

contact withthe-shoulder 19'the point of 7 the latch is prevented from passing inwardly by the shoulder 25. The needle when thus l -in .which the' latch member is in position assembledpresents a self-contained structure inflthe hook member and isnot readily sepas .1 5. i the user as an entity in the slot iting machine in the usual manner.

-. 1 rable therefrom. This complete self-con tained needle may'therefore be shipped to the-user, stored by the user, and inserted bv of the knit- .The needle is shown in, connection with a .'well known type of circular knitting maprises a bed'plate-tl in which is vertically chine in Fig- 1. The machine shown comand centrally mounted a vertically movable cylinder carrier 42. This cylinder carrier supports the usual needle cylinder 43 in the periphery of which are formed the radial needle slots 44; A skeleton cylinder is shown mounted in the bed plate concentrically with the'needle cylinder and provided with the vertical spaced bars 45, but

such a device is not necessary andis shown because usually employed in. this type of machine.

Theneedle'cylinder 43 is shown as carry ing at its upper end an annular sinker cylinder -16 and anannular sinker-guide 47 in which the sinkers 48=reciprocate radially. The effective end of thecylinder'ove'r which the stitches are drawn is therefore the upper surface 49 of the sinker-s when this 'construction is employed The needle maybe'operated in'any'suitable manner but when some of the needles are to be thrown out of and into actionas in reciprocating knitting it is preferably'operatedin connection'with a separate jack of the general type disclosed in my application N o.- 205,97 9 filed December 7, 1917'. The use of theseparate jack enables the needle to be thrown out off-action and returned to knitting position .When required with the-minimum amount-of movement, with the minimum amount of friction, and .without d an- The members will remain thus'as-. .sembled' because when the shoulder-'38 is'in'- ation soas to form the shoulders thereof with extreme accuracy. It comprises a shankadhavingat its forward end an outward pro jection 51, presenting a'shoulder 52 to cooperate with the shoulderr16 of the hook member of the needle. Near its rear end it is provided with the outwardly projected butt 53 which projects between the bars 45 of the skeleton cylinder, when; used, and which is acted upon by the retracting cams. Inthe. rear of th butt 53 the. separate jackanay be provided with divergently bent fingers 54 and 55 to pass behind adjacent bars of the skeleton cylinder and thus prevent any danger of the jack coming out from the needle slot." The shank 50 of the jack is bent slightly as shown in Fig. 10 so that when the jack is placed in'its slot it will have trio tion with the walls of the slot.

sheet metalby a stamping or-cutting oper- Theusual'retracting cam 56 is carried by, 4

the cam ring 57 mounted in the bed late 41 to rotate concentrically with thepcylinder' in the usual manner and driven the gear ring 58 from the gear 59 in the usual manner. This retracting cam 56 acts upon the jack butts 53. and has associated with fit a projecting cam 60 formed in the cam rihg 57 also acting upon the jack butts. f i

The projecting movement of the needle is however given by a separate projecting cam 61 formed'in; a projecting cam ring '62 rotarily supported in the sinker guide. 17. This .cam ring 62 is shown as flanged at 63 and held in place 'by' a flange ring 64 screwed to the bottom surface of the sinker guide -17.

Rot'ation of the projecting cam ring 62- is secured by connecting it to the usual cam ring 57 This connection-maybe made by a a post 65 secured fat 66 to the cam rin'g 57 and projecting upwardly'therefrom into an opening 67 formed in a lug 68-. projecting laterally from the projecting" cam ring 62.

Set screws 69 in the lug 68 contact with. the

' post 65- and enable an accurate relative adjustment to be made between the two cam rings. I v The projecting cam 61 acts upon the shoulder 14 formed upon the hook member of the needle and gives the projecting movement to the needle, .1

The" retracting movement of the needle is given through. the agency of the jack and is effected by the retracting cam 56 acting upon the jack butt 53.- The jack projecting cam 60 is for-the purpose of insuring the jack butts being leftin properposition to co-Jf operate with the cam and picker mechanism. such as is usually .employed for throwing the needles out of and into action. r

In this type of machine the stitch is lengthened andshortened by raising and lowering the cylinder which in Fig. 1 is shown at its highest point. When the" cylinder is lowcred the shoulders 52 of the jack and 16 of show the construction of the needle.

the needle stand separated because the cam 61 moves with the cylinder. This insures that the needle inprojected position shall always occupy the same relative position with respect to the efi'ective top of the cylthat when the cylinder is raised .or lowered to lengthen or shorten the stitchonly a few of the jacksover the portion 70 are moved in their slots. Hence the force required to raise and lower the cylinder is reduced.

When one or more needles are tobe thrown out of action the proper cam or picker mechanism acting upon the jack butt 53 elevates the required numberof .jacks Without in any way changing the position of the corresponding needles to a position where they arecaught by and slide along the top of the cam 56. Thus the corresponding needles are.

prevented from receiving any retracting movement. and consequently remain out of action. To restore these needles into action the jack butts 53 are acted upon by the usual cam or dropper mechanism to bring them into the path of the retracting cam 56.

The yarn 71 may be fed in any suitable manner as through a guide eye 72 which extends beneath the hook of the hook'member of the needle.

'The needle is shown much enlarged in Figs; 3 and 4. In Fig. 3 the upper portion of the cylinder 43 is shown and at 73-73 is indicated the eii'ectivetop of the cylinder which in the present case/is formed by the sinkers, this being the edge or "surface over which the-stitch is drawn during the knit ting operation. Theline of the inner edge of thehook member of the needle which coincides with, the bottom of the needle slot is prolonged forwardly at 74 in order .to'

Itwill be understood that the yarn -is't'ed f into the hook when the needle is in the pro- 1ecte'd position shown in Fig. 3 and at this time the previous loop or stitch of yarn surrounds'the hook member at the line 7 3-73. As theneedle is retracted this previous loop or stitch must slide forwardly relatively to theneedleand finally be cast-ofi over the hook end. During this retracting movement of the needle the latch member moves relatively to the hook member until the latch point closes'over the hook with the extreme point resting in the recess 28 in the hook tipl It will be evident that after the latch ting operation several needles are simultaneously belng acted upon by the retracting has closed over the hook and the stitch is lying at the point 75 indicated in Fig. 4 the movement of the stitch relatively to the needle in casting off, from the point 75 until it is entirely cast off, inherently requires an expansion of the loop or'stitch'. This'eX- pansion cannot be prevented andis inherent to the nature of a latch needle; In this construction the expansion of the loop ismade as'small as possible because the latch point seats in the. recess 28 thus making the maximum across seetionpf the latch mem- I her and hook member wherecasting ,oif takes place the minimum possible-L At this time also it will be noted that the latch point is bridged, being supported at both ends and so iscapable of taking the necessary strain. and at the same time can be made as small as possible.

But it will be remembered that in the'knit-g cam '56 and are indifferent states or positions of retraction- If these stitches are eX- panded to any extent it places a great strain '90 upon th'e' work and] may result in-rupture or cuttin of the yarn. One important feature of t is invention is the preventing of the expansion of the stitches other than that essential to the casting ofl? operation.

To securee'this-result theforward end of the hook member, or that portion forward of the usual cheek, is set outwardly from the line 74 of theinner edge of the .hook member as shown inFig. 3. Preferably the construction is such that the outer' face of this olfset portion is aboutiparallel to the needle bed or the inneredge'of the hook member. I Thispractically' eliminates the usual pro-. jecting cheek and enables'the latch point to lie concealed in the-inclined Ortion'of'the hook member joining this on the shank. This inclined portion is prefer-' ably of the same cross section as the offset portion and has thesame inclination;- as the H0 latch pointf When the needle is in its projected position-the inclined point of the latch member lies in the recess. 24 and 'slot 21'. against the shoulder 25 in this inclined portion of the 'hookniemberwith its point cov-,

. ered." Thus the entire cross section of the needle may be reduced to' a minimum at the point where the point of thelatch rests.

eliminating-the usual cheek. In the rear of this point the latch may extend as shown 12o slightly inwardly from-the line 7.4 of the inner edge ofthe hook member. But this slight inward projectionnof the latch memher when the needles are in projected position is of no practical consequence. as it does not strain the stitches while casting' ofi." If there should be any tendency to strain the stitches it is taken care of by relieving the cam 61 as shown at 76 all the Way around except immediately adjacent the 13 et portion to i ILMLEM effective portions whereby the needles are allowed to retract slightly and thus reduce the cross-section. Theshank of the latch member in order to strengthen the latch member and prevent its twisting in the 1on gitudinal and'transverseslot of the hook member may be and preferably is widened out in the rearof the head as shown and the needle bed will be grooved at 7 7 at its forward end to receive this portion of the shank of the latch member. The offsetting of the forward hook end of the hook member prevents the latch point from having to move materially back of the hook member and also enables the yarn. to be fed directly beneath and readily to be caught by the hook. The stitches held on-the needles therefore stand in a circle of somewhat larger diameter than they would otherwise; hence in such a knitting operationas ribbing the take-up puts a heavier strain on the stitches being castofi' Without placing too much strain on the remaining needles.

Owing to the fact that the hook end of theneedle is offset and recessed on its outer face, and the fact that the inclined point of the latch is, when the needle is in projected position, buried in the inclined portion of the hook member joinin the offset hook portion and the shank, it Wlll be seen that the total cross section along which the stitches slide during the retraction of the needle is not increased until the latch has closed over the hook.

During the retracting movement of the needle. the latch point is cammed outwardly by reason of its inner curved surface contacting with the shoulder 25. The stitch to be cast off hangs about the two members at the point of crossing and so isnot expanded as the latch point moves outwardly. As the needle continues its retracting movement with the latch point projected outwardly,

' the needle occupied by the stitch being cast off, from the time the projection of the latch point begins and until it closes upon the hook tip. llhat is to say, the cross section indicated 75 is not increased during the projection of the latch point and during the travel of the latch point throughout the length of the recess 24:. From this it follows that little friction is re uiredhetween the latch member and the s at in the needle bed because there is little or no danger of the yarn during the retracting movement of the needle dragging the latch rearwardly and so preventing closure. vHence it is sufi'icient that the latch member shall have only a slight frictional engagement with the walls of'the slot or substantially that necessary to support the weight of the latch if it be in a vertical position. lVhen a dial is used in connection Withthe cylinder so as to produce ribbed work the needle cylinder is preferably made somewhatsmaller in diameter than usual to .com pensate for the. offsetting of'the hook end of the needles and 'sufliciently to restore the relation between the dial and cylinder needles.

The construction is so arranged that both hook member and latch member have a normal tendency to remain in contact with the bottom or inner wall of the'slot in the needle bed.- This is effected with respect to the hpo'k member by having the line between the shoulder 16 and the hook of the needle inside of the line where the latch butt frietionally engages the walls of the slot, and with respect to the latch member, by having the point of contact between the shoulders 20 and 39' also inside of the line where the latchrbutt frictionally engages the walls of the slot. Hence when the retracting pull takes place 'on the needle the tendency is always to hold the entire needle both latch' member and hook member against the needle bed. y

This applicationis subsidiary to my application No. 362,878, filed March 2. 1920, which is a continuation of this application and contains the broad claims to the sub ject matter herein disclosed.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder provided with longitudinal needle hook member slots and relatively short longitudinal latch member slots adjacent the forward ends thereof and centrally and radially aligned therewith. separate latch needles. each com prising a hook member and a latch member, the hook members being prbvided with outwardly ollset hooked ends and mounted for reciprocation in said hook member slots, the latch mernhers reciprocable longitudinally and transversely within and with respect to the hook members and having shank portions movable into said latch member slots, whereby the relative movement of the needle memthe stitch during its movement from its poposition on the needleimmediatel-y prior to.

the casting oil over the closed hook.

2. A knitting machine needle cylinder provided with parallel lon gitudinal peripheral slots. to receive needle hook members and with" relatively short parallel longitudinal slotsadjacent the for- Ward end of the cylinder centrally and rahers. V o y 3. A separate latch needle for knitting" dially aligned Withthe hook member slots to receive and guide the needle latch memmachines comprising a hook member and a latch member, the hook member having a comprising alaterallyi apertured body portion with a straight inner edge, the latch member I PATRICK P. LA MONTAGNE. 

